Tensioning device.



E. NALL.

TENSIONING DEVIGIL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.16, 1914.

1,1 27,494 7 Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Ema/ido EDWARD NAL.L.'

wn oeow 2 5% a?) A, v

whom-'04;

"HE NORRIS PETERS ca. F'HOTO-L!THO.. WASHINGTON, D. c

pnrrnn snares raannr @FFECE.

EDWARD NALL, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GOODYEAR TIE-E AND RUBBER COMPANY, OF AKRON, 03110, A CORPORATION DE OHIO.

TENSIONING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

Application filed March 16, 1914. Serial No. 825,024.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, EDWARD NALL, a citizen of the United States, residing a Akron, in the county of Saummit and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tensioning Devices, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for imposing a predetermined tension on a strip of fabric and is especially adapted for use in connection with tire-building machines such as is shown and described in U. S. Letters Patent granted to lV.'G. State, No. 941,962, Nov. 30, 1909. i

The object of the device is to provide suitable mechanism for imposing a predetermined tension on the strip of material drawn from a feed roller and fed onto some instrumentality such as a tire-shoe-making core, the core is revolved to draw the strip of fabric from the feed-roller, during this operation it is highly desirable, and in fact, essential, that the strip of fabric be drawn taut, or a predetermined tension placed thereon, in order to efiect proper building up of the tire-shoe.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel con struction, combination and arrangement of parts constituting the invention to be hereinafter specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which come within the scope of the matter hereinafter claimed.

n the drawings in which similar reference numerals indicate like partsin the different figures, Figure 1, is a perspective view of the device embodying this improvement, and so much of a tire-building machine as will illustrate its position and connection therewith; Fig. 2, isa side elevation of a braking device employed; and, Fig. 3, is a diagrammatic view of the position of the rolls around which the fabric, travels while being subjected to the action of this device.

Briefly, tire machines of the type named in the beforeunentioned patent are now constructed with a hexa gonally=fashioned frame, each side or face of the frame consisting of a pair of upright frame-forming members spaced apart-and arranged in pairs, and between these frame-forming members is positioned the mechanism for holding, tensioning and delivering strips of fabric to the tire-forming core and the hexagonal frame is adapted to be rotated one-sixth of a revolution to bring difierent layers of fabric to the core, but as an extended description of the machine is unnecessary here, further reference thereto will be omitted.

In the drawings, the reference numerals l and 2 designate respectively the side frame-forming members of one side of a tire building machine or any other suitable support for the mechanism hereinafter described. The members 1 and 2 are provided with bearings 3 and a respectively, and in which is mounted a shaft 5 on which is fixedly mounted a friction roll 6, commonly,

although not necessarily, covered with a soft rubber cushion. At the right of the bearinglthere is slidably mounted on the shaft 5 a member 7, one face of which is provided with jaws 8 so that it constitutes one member of a square-jawed clutch. The shaft 5 is preferably provided with a key 9 and the member 7 is provided with a slot to receive the key so that the member 7 is splined thereto and is adapted to revolve in unison therewith. The median part of the member 7 is provided with a circumferential groove or channel 10 for a purpose to be later described. Loosely mounted on the shaft 5 to the right of the member 7 and beyond the outer terminus of the key 9 is a drum 11 provided with a helical peripheral groove 12 and is further provided with an opening in the wall thereof in which is secured one end of a flexible member such, for instance, as a wire rope 14 which passes upwardly around a suitably-supported pulley 15 and is provided at its oppositeend with a counterweight 16. The side face of the drum 11 adjacentto the member 7 is provided with a plurality of square teeth 17 arranged in spaced relation and arranged to interengage in the spaces between the jaws 8 on the member 7 s0 that the two members 7 and 11 are complemental one to the other and clutching relation may be established between them for inducing the revolution of the drum 11 y shifting the member 7 to the right for effecting. inter- I engagement between them. It" is contemplated that when the drum '11 is rotated the mounted a shaft 21.

formingplate 19 and the opposite frame forming member 2 is provided with a bearing 20 and in these two bearings is rotatably Secured fixedly on the left end of the shaft 21 outside of the bearing-forming plate 19 is the hub 22 of an operating lever 23 which when oscillated induces a partial rotation of the shaft21.

The lever 23 is provided with a hand-lock 24 carrying a pin (not shown) adapted to engage in a suitable opening in the plate 19 when the hand-lever 23 is in its lower position. Between the hand-lock 24 and the lever 23 is a resilient element 2 5, the normal tendency of which is to force the opposing ends of the lever and lock apart to drive'the pin into a suitable opening (not shown) in the plate 19 to lock the member 23 against movement. A resilient element 26 is provided for normally shifting the-lever 23' to its upper position when the hand-lock 24 is released from engagement with the opening in the plate 19. Mounted on the opposite end of the shaft 21 and adjacent to the end of the bearing 20 is a hub 27 which bears an arm 28 provided with a segmentshaped head 29 the outer face of which is in the arc of a circle and on the peripheral face of which is a helically-formed groove 30. Mounted in the groove 30 is a coupling member 31 the upper portion of which is provided with a semi-circularlyformed rib adapted to engage and seat in the peripheral groove 10 of the member 7 and the lower portion of the coupling member 31 is slightly inclined to ride in the groove 30 on the arm 28, so that as the lever 23 is raised or lowered to cause a partial revolution of the segment-shaped head 29 a lateral shifting movement of the coupling member 31 takes place, tending to shift the member 7 longitudinally of the shaft Secured to the outer face. of the frameforming member 2 is an L-shaped bracket 32 having at its outer end an upwardly-extending portion 33 in which is a bearing for the projecting end of the shaft 21 (see Fig. 2) and with the portion of the member 23 above the bearing bifurcated or yoke-shaped to form two arms 34 and 35 widely divergent one from the other. The outer ends of the divergent arms 34 and 35 are positioned on opposite sides and out of contact with the drum 11 and in each of these termini of the-arms 34 and 35 are pivot-pins 36 and 37 respectively. Mounted on the pin 37 is a lever 38 with the inner end thereof provided with a pivot pin 40. Extending between the pins 36 and 39 is a flexible strip 41 provided on its inner face with lagging 42 closely ap- Vproximating in contour the peripheral portion of the drum 11 and adapted to frictionally engage the smooth portion of this drum and constitute a brake for controlling its revolution. Secured on the shaft 21 at the right of the hub 27 is a hub 43 bearing an arm 44 the outer end of which is provided with a pivot pin 45. Extending between the pivot-pins 40 and 45 is a connecting rod 46 in which is interposed a turnbuckle 47 for adjusting the length of this rod;

In Fig.3 is shown the stock roller 48 from which a strip of fabric 49 is led around an idler roll and upwardly around the.tension roll 6 and downwardly around a smoothing roll 51, and in practice the rolls 50 and 51 will be placed on the opposite sides of the shaft 21, but are omitted in Fig. 1 to more clearly illustrate the construction of the device which forms the subject-matter of this invention.

In operation, the strip of fabric 49 is car ried from the stock roll 48 around the rolls shown diagrammatically in Fig. 3 and the free end thereof applied to some object, such, for instance, as a tire-building core which is usually revolved by power to draw the strip of fabric fromthe stock roller over thesmoothing roller and around the tension roller so as to both smooth and tension it during the placement of the same. Previous to the rotation of the core the operator releases the lock 24 and then shifts the lever 23 to its upper position. This movement of the lever 23 partially rotates the shaft 21 and moves the segmentatshaped head 29, thereby shifting the clutch member 7 to the right, causing it to establish clutching relation with the drum 11. The core is then revolved, drawing the fabric to itself, and in the operation it passes around the tension roller 6 which is fastened to the shaft 5, as is also the drum 11, temporarily by the clutch member 7 the drum winds up the flexible member 14 and raises the weight 16, thereby interposing a predetermined tension on the fabric which is both even and continuous throughout the operation. The partial rotation imparted to the shaft 21 by the upward shifting of the lever 23 also shifts the arm 44 to the left in Fig. 2 with the result that the arm 38 is also shifted to the left through the medium of the connecting rod 46 thereby lowering the inner end of the lever 38 bearing the brake-band 42 and moving it out of frictionalengagement with the braking surface of the drum 11 to permit the latter to revolve freely. As soon as the winding-up of a strip of fabric on a core has taken place, the operator rocks the lever 23 downwardly, thereby changing the position of thesegmental head 29 cans ing a discontinuance of the clutching engagement between. the member 7 and the drum 11, which simultaneously shifts the brake-band and applies the same to the braking surface of the drum 11 for frictionally resisting reverse movement of the drum 11. By means of the turn-buckle 47 a proper amount of braking engagement between the lagging 42 and the face of the drum may be accurately produced, so as to allow the drum to revolve at a predetermined speed, permitting the lowering of the counterweight 16 to its initial position.

I claim:

1. A tensioning device embodying a suitably supported shaft, a tension roll fixedly mounted thereon, a drum freely mounted on said shaft, a flexible member adapted to wind on said drum, a counterweight carried by said flexible member, a clutch on said shaft adapted to establish clutching relation between said drum and shaft for winding up said flexible member, a braking device for said shaft, mechanism for establishing clutching relation between said clutch and said drum and simultaneously releasing said brake, said mechanism further adapted to discontinue the clutching operation and shift said brake to its operative position for controlling the rotation of said drum.

2. A tensioning device embodying a shaft, a friction tension roll fixedly mounted thereon, a shiftable clutch member on said shaft, a loosely-mounted drum on said shaft, means for establishing clutching relation between said clutch member and said drum to rotate the drum simultaneously with the shaft, a flexible member connected to said drum and provided with a counterweight and adapted to be wound up on said drum when said drum is rotated in unison with said shaft, a braking device capable of engaging said drum and having connection with the clutch mechanism whereby said brake is applied when said clutch is in its inoperative position and is released from engagement with said drum during the clutching operation.

3. A tension device comprising a suitably supported shaft, a tension roll thereon, a loosely-mounted drum on said shaft, a flexible member bearing a counterweight adapted to be Wound up on said drum when the latter revolves with said shaft, a clutch connecting said shaft and drum, a brake adapted to be applied to the drum when said clutch is in its inoperative position and to be released from contact with said drum when said clutch is in its operative position, and

mechanism for simultaneously operating said clutch and brake.

4. A tension device for tire-building machines embodying a rotatably-mounted tension roll, a loosely-mounted drum, means to impart a predetermined and constant resistance to the rotation of said drum in one direction, means to couple said drum and tension roll whereby simultaneous rotation of said drum and tension roller may be had, means for discontinuing the coupling between said roll and drum, and a braking element adapted to control the reverse rotation of said drum, and means connecting the coupling means between said roll and drum with said braking element, whereby said coupling means and braking elements are alternately operated.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD NALL.

Witnesses:

Rosn SEVIREUX, ANNA J. GrLHooLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

